Close our eyes and imagine the stars
Bitter cold outside but it’s warm in your arms
In and out, every breath
Seems to carry me farther away

Time holds still like the frost
On the glass of the window pane
Just above the shadow you cast
When you raise your head
To hear me say

REFRAIN:
If you still want me
By the time that summer comes
I’ll take you at your word
If you still want me
By the time that summer comes
My heart will be yours

Love and greed share a room in my head
I put one in my pocket and the other to bed
Long before the time you came this way

Now you’re here and you’re leaving
Promises lie in the night
Like the whisper of snow from the sky
‘Till the sun starts to thaw any reason to stay

REFRAIN

Two winds crossed in the wake of a storm
Out to sea they were swept with immaculate form
By the cold winter air
And for a time did stay
With summer come what may

-music & lyrics by Christopher Gatsby 01/16/2014

Original songs on YouTube: www.youtube.com/results?search_qu…hristopher+gatsby

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Two Winds

Listen closely 'cuz there ain't much more I can tell ya'
I thought I was clear, but you're still here
Ain't gonna tell you again

I'm giving you up cuz you're brining me down
Don't let me catch ya' hanging round
when I get back better pack your bags
No more conversations
Time to get gone, get gone, baby, so long

I got a fever and you ain't got the medicine, baby
You're pushing your luck selling bull for a buck
to a penniless man

I'm hard as they come, and I'm ready to go
If you get in my way, don't you know
When I get back better pack your bags
Don't you test my patience
Time to get gone, get gone, baby, so long

Get you gone and out the door
Ain't your baby anymore
And the time has come I got to movin' on
Gon' close my eyes real tight
And by the time I turn around
Baby, you better be gone

On the trigger and you're still
Looking straight down the barrel
With a song and a dance, you got one last chance
Before I lose control

I'm through bein' nice, and you know what I mean
It's time that you took me seriously
Like the whip-crack heart attack I am
Got no reservations
Time to get gone, get gone, baby, so long

-music & lyrics by Christopher Gatsby 01/23/2014

Original songs on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=christopher+gatsby

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Get Gone

THERE IS A RIVER

Have you ever stepped outside
Just to marvel at the sky
As the bloodied sun ignites the clouds

Have you ever taken pride
In a dandelion's sigh
As your footfall sends 
a breeze across its boughs

    REFRAIN:
    She holds the answers to life
    She bears the questions in mind

    Show me the river that runs up a hillside
    Roots that grow trees deep in stone
    Stand and deliver on promises
    Left at the doorstep of the unknown

Have you ever cast aside
Our most fundamental lies
Built of centuries under glass

If you ever do decide
There is reason to reprise ancient mysteries
Their ghosts will come to pass

    REFRAIN

She has been waiting so peacefully
You would never know she’s broken

    REFRAIN

-music & lyrics by Christopher Gatsby 01/30/2014

Original songs on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=christopher+gatsby

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There Is A River

See it live from Chicago! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brsdcIzWTAU

REFRAIN:
I am gone, I have left
I am leaving all by myself
I’m on the Road to Chiacgo
And it won’t be long
‘Till I see that woman again

Since you left I just been with me
And I tell you it’s going miserably
So I searched up and down
And found you hangin’ around
Out by that Michigan Sea

REFRAIN

I been so sad for a long, long while
Keepin’ myself in a state of denial
‘Till I get where you’re at
I can promise you that
Every step is a Magnificent Mile

REFRAIN

Sho’ nuff ain’t but a day that remain
‘Till I’m at your doorstep again
And the thought is so sweet
Lifts me right off my feet
Like the rails of that overhead train

REFRAIN

-music & lyrics by Jake & Gatsby 03/24/2014

Original songs on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=christopher+gatsby

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Road to Chicago [with Jake]

SELFRESPECTFULLY

I’ve got to reinvest in myself
Worrying too much has got me
Swimming in a sea without a shore
Not so scenic as it was
Before the day when I looked inside
And found that there was nothing there to find

REFRAIN:
So who will save me from my own demise
With everything I’ve seen
I should hardly be surprised
For you and I both know why
The only satisfaction you can find…
The only satisfaction is implied

I’m trying harder and harder
Not to fold the situation at its hinges
Before the glue has dried
As yet undecided chances are
That I’ll be far from here
By the time the right time becomes clear

REFRAIN

Self-inflicted self-deception
Introspectively imposed
Haven’t found the self-control
To do much self-reflect
To wake my self-respect from its repose
Or convince myself that I’m supposed to

Every stage of my creation
Is a step toward vindication
That occasionally shows up at my door
I look forward to the morning
When the sires that I’ve known so well
Can finally leave me be
And just blare at one another
Like the hungry hounds of hell

REFRAIN

-music & lyrics by Christopher Gatsby 09/24/2014

Original songs on YouTube: www.youtube.com/results?search_qu…hristopher+gatsby

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Selfrespectfully

MAMA SHE GOT WELL

My girl's sweet as she can be
But, oh, her mama's got it in for me
First I walked in through her door
Assailed me like a third world war

Cuz mama, her mama knew me well
Right away her mama knew me well

Walk her damn dogs three times a day
Even mow her lawn for free
Still she don't pay me no mind
And my girl is always on her side

Says, "Mama, she means well.
That’s just her way and mama she means well.”


Then one day when the coast was clear
Saw mama’s back at the top of the stair
Seems she fell and cracked her head
Sixteen weeks she laid in bed

But mama she got well
Yes somehow her mama she got well

Up every morning at the crack of dawn
A bedside pharmacy to keep her goin’
Then one morning gets the shakes and chills
Says, “Someone call the doctor, these ain't my pills!"

But mama she got well
Hallelujah, mama she got well

Mama took a drive to get some lace and flowers
She was gone for nearly 13 hours!
Found her by the road full of glass and chrome
Guess she left her brake fluid back at home

But mama she got well
Once again her mama she got well

Helped dear mama bake a birthday cake
Must have left the oven on by mistake
When she lit the candles at a half past six
The house wasn't nothing but dust and bricks

But mama she got well
Like a phoenix rising, mama she got well


Now me and my woman got a child our own
Blink of an eye and she was nearly grown
Soon my woman nearly died to see
She was bringing home rif-raf just like me!

Her mama she did not take it well
Eventually though mama she got well

Then our little girl she decides to wed
"Over my dead body!" her mama said
So I sat that boy down calm and kind
Said, "Look, I know exactly what's on your mind!
But trust me, mama she'll get well
Ain’t no use ‘cuz mama, mama she’ll get well
EVERY time, mama she’ll get well”	

Music & Lyrics © Christopher Gatsby 2010-08-18
(updated lyrics 2025-09-24)

Original songs on YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChristopherGatsby

+Like Christopher Gatsby on Facebook: www.facebook.com/Christopher.Gatsby

Mama She Got Well

THE LOVER AND THE DEVIL

The devil came to see me
On a cold and cloudy night
Oh, he’d had his share of whiskey
He was looking for a fight

I had heard he can be vicious
Didn’t look that tough to me
But then I’m not so superstitious
So I let him have a seat

He said, “Sir, you are courageous
I don’t think you understand
You could be a king or beggar
With the wave of my hand.”

“I came to proffer this proposal
With a shotglass guarantee
All the means at my disposal
Can be yours condition-free
If in return without delay
You trade me places for a day”

“Rule the world until tomorrow
And kindly beckon me inside
A single day to sing your songs
Taste the rain, cast a shadow
Know the touch of a willing bride”

I think he meant mine
I had to politely decline

How he lashed! How he raged!
How he screamed it wasn’t fair
“I’ll take your faith! I’ll take your talent!
And I’ll slowly take your hair!
I will make your body weaken
And I’ll lead your mind astray
Until you wither up and vanish!”

Well, Okay.	

Music & Lyrics © Christopher Gatsby 2010-08-25
(lyrics updated 2025-10-13)

Original songs on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ChristopherGatsby

+Like Christopher Gatsby on Facebook: www.facebook.com/Christopher.Gatsby


The Lover and the Devil

MISSING YOU


REFRAIN:
I missed you today
Thought I'd like to say
I’m not that far away
And still you’re on my mind

You’re not meant to be
Always next to me
So until my day is yours again
You are my waking dream


I miss you in the morning
When the sun steals me away
I miss you when the twilight beacon glows

I suppose the hours between
Are not the ideal time to dream
But if it's all the same
I guess I will some more

REFRAIN

I miss you in the springtime
When the daylight shackles bloom
And when the autumn breeze
Whispers your name

I’ve more pressing things to do
Than writing songs called “Missing You”
But if it's all the same
I think I'll sing some more

REFRAIN
My song will not convey
How much you’re on my mind


Music & Lyrics © Christopher Gatsby 2010-07-07
(updated lyrics 2025-11-06)

Original songs on YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ChristopherGatsby

+Like Christopher Gatsby on Facebook: www.facebook.com/Christopher.Gatsby

Missing You

NOVOCAINE

Everybody’s headed off to Nashville
I suppose I’d better head there too
I’ll just hop a Greyhound bus one day
Never to return
And hope the tales are true, till then I’ll

REFRAIN:
Take my time
Assigned to stay behind and shovel
Twice the shit for half the wage
Center stage, can’t you just imagine me?
*No shame, no doubt, no sympathy
Novocaine, I could complain but I won’t
I’ll only smile and bleed

Everybody takes a bullet sometime
And still believes the best is yet to come
I’ll be damned if my existence 
Must amount to such defeat
Or am I deaf and dumb, to want to

REFRAIN
*No that’s the last thing that I need

Smile and bleed and wave

Everybody’s got a friend in Jesus
Don’t suppose there’s one in there for me
Smiling Baptist in a river
Brown with potter’s ash and lye
Eager to confront eternity
My, my, can’t I just

REFRAIN
*No that’s the last thing that I need

-music & lyrics by Christopher Gatsby 06/13/2015

Original songs on YouTube:  www.youtube.com/results?search_qu…hristopher+gatsby

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Novocaine

I'd write a new song if I could
For now I hold my wood
Stare at a blank piece of paper
The sky was dark and grey
By five pm today
Winter bears such doldrum inspiration

Every time I feel like I can never write again
Always know where I can find a hand

REFRAIN:
Tanqueray, you wash my blues away
I'm so glad I met you, Tanqueray
You get me through the day
I dedicate this song to Tanqueray

Boss is on the phone
Won't leave me alone
Says "We gotta have this done by 7:30."
Woman wants me dead
Pets all need fed
The floor that I just cleaned's already dirty

Every time I feel like there's a bounty on my head
I've got a friend

REFRAIN

Tanqueray, take me away
Blind me with your pine-scented haze
Tanqueray, please Tanqueray
Hold me in your warm embrace

Moon hangs low tonight
The mood... the mood is just right for love
There has to be a catch
Laundry's in the dryer
Make myself a fire
And California sushi rolls from scratch

No hour too late
I know I've always got a date

REFRAIN
REFRAIN

Music & Lyrics © Christopher Gatsby 12/01/2009

Original songs on YouTube: www.youtube.com/results?search_qu…hristopher+gatsby

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Tanqueray

Acoustic songwriter based in central Ohio, USA. Focused mostly on blues, but with ventures into country, jazz, rock, Irish ballads, bluegrass, even reggae.

Christopher Gatsby

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